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For more than a century, the sorority and fraternity community at the University of Kansas has been an important part of the student experience for many Jayhawks. The sorority and fraternity community has a rich tradition of leadership, scholarship, service and friendship — ideals that have benefited individual members and the university as a whole.

While we can be proud of this history, it is crucial that our sorority and fraternity community is prepared to address today’s challenges and opportunities. With sororities and fraternities under scrutiny nationwide and at KU, we must commit to raising our standards for health, wellness and self-governance and seek new ways to meet the expectations we have for our community. We must strive to set a new standard of excellence by providing university support, community leadership, and an outstanding experience for all chapters and members.

To achieve these aspirations, the University of Kansas has created a task force to examine sorority and fraternity life at KU and recommend strategies to strengthen the Greek community. The new Sorority and Fraternity Life Task Force is intended to evaluate sorority and fraternity life at KU, explore best practices related to policy and programming, and submit recommendations on how Greek life can be enhanced. The goal is to ensure that a strong sorority and fraternity system continues to be a valuable part of the student experience at KU.

The 27-member task force comprises an impressive group of students, parents, alumni, housing corporation representatives, advisors, university administrators and staff, whose diverse perspectives are essential to this process. The task force will be chaired by KU alumnus Mike Michaelis, who many of you know as one of our most accomplished and loyal Jayhawks. Mike cares deeply about this university, and I am grateful for his leadership in the coming months.

The task force will convene its first meeting this week. No hard deadlines have been set, though we tentatively expect the task force to complete its work and submit its recommendations to me by summer 2019. At that point, I will evaluate the recommendations and announce next steps in fall 2019.

I want to thank all of you — especially our faculty, staff, alumni and friends — for working to ensure students have a positive experience at KU. The Sorority and Fraternity Life Task Force provides us an opportunity to address challenges and make the community stronger. I am optimistic this group will help us meet the expectations we have for our university, and I am confident we can continue the proud tradition of sorority and fraternity life at KU.

The mission of the University of Kansas is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities, and making discoveries that change the world.

We will do that by raising the expectations we have for ourselves, the aspirations we have for our state, and the hopes we have for our world.

KU is in the midst of a comprehensive effort to ensure the university is ranked among the top tier of public international research universities.

ThroughBold Aspirations, our strategic plan, we're changing the way we prepare students for success. We're fostering research and scholarship across all disciplines. And we're sharing the benefits of a flagship university with our state and world.